Lessons With Gendry
by starknakedgendry
Summary: Catelyn gets Jon's friend Gendry to tutor Arya, who's failing in her History class. Maybe History won't be the only thing Arya ends up learning from Gendry. (One-shot Tumblr prompt request)


**A/N: From a fic prompt on Tumblr by an anon who wants Gendry tutoring Arya and for highwaytothe7hells who wants a first kiss moment between them.**

**And this is for me and the rest of us shippers who are praying to the old gods and the new that the little gif that caused a ruckus on Tumblr is really not what it seems.**

**Because we do know that some Gendrya fluff for everyone is the best cure for a weeping heart :)**

* * *

Arya slammed her bedroom door.

She hated that she's flunking History (of all subjects) and everyone's giving her hell about it. She had just returned from a scold-fest from her mother about how easy it was to pass History if only she reads, reviews and listens in class. Then she goes on telling her about how Sansa gets excellent grades in the subject, making Arya want to strangle her own neck. She flung her school bag on the floor and dove face first onto the bed.

"Fuck my life!" Arya screamed into the pillow, as tears streamed down her cheeks. Her body wracked with sobs as she poured her anger and frustration under the comfort of her duvet and pillows.

"Arya?" Bran said, knocking thrice before opening the door a little. Arya wiped her tears a little before looking up to see Bran awkwardly standing there with a sad look on his face.

"Hey, Bran," she said as she looked at him with a sad smile, but not quite moving from the bed. "What's up?"

Bran shrugged as he slowly walked towards her bed. He raised his brow and pointed to the space beside her, only taking a seat when she gave a small nod. They were silent for a few minutes until Bran said, "I'm sorry about your History class, Arya. I'm not so bad with it, although I'd probably be a better tutor at Math…but maybe I could help you?"

Arya emitted a soft laugh. "It's okay, baby," she said, reaching up to touch his soft hair. "Mom said she's hired a tutor for me."

Bran wrinkled his nose. "Which means you have to interact with actual people?"

"Yes."

"But you hate most people. You hate socializing and mingling and all that."

Arya laughed again. "I know, right? It sucks to be out there with actual people when I can just be here at home, talking to my little extraterrestrial brothers like you and Rickon."

That made Bran laugh. Arya loved hearing his and Rickon's laughter. It's like every single problem she has gets blown away by their cute, funny, giggly little boy laughter. "Then we all must be aliens, for you are my sister and I your brother."

"You sound like a medieval chap," she said, pinching his cheek a little.

"Just so, my lady. Like I said, I am quite decent when it comes to the subject of History." He turned serious a while later. "When do you meet your tutor and who is she?"

Arya's forehead creased into a frown. "A _he_, actually. Mom said he's a friend of Jon from uni, so she trusts him with the task."

"Task? That sounds a little harsh, if you ask me."

Arya sighed. "Well that's what I am to Mom," she said, fiddling with the edges of the duvet. "A task she's burdened with."

* * *

It was the longest walk of shame for Arya.

She had to pass by her father, who gave her a small encouraging smile and a kiss on the forehead as she passed him by. Robb, Sansa and her cousin Theon were there, too…taking a break from watching tv to look at her as she was on her way to the study. Thank the seven that Bran and Rickon already gave her a cute and funny motivational speech back in her bedroom, so she had less of her family to deal with. But the worst was yet to come, because Jon was in the study along with his friend, and of course her mother.

When she opened the door to the study, she found her mother laughing at something Jon's friend said. She couldn't really see him though, because Jon was standing with his back to the door and his friend was standing before him, a little obscured from her view. Catelyn was standing beside the two, and she was actually laughing!

_Seven hells, he's got the woman laughing!_

"Arya!" Jon said happily, crossing the room in quick strides to take her by the arm. She would have punched Jon in the arm if only she didn't catch a glimpse of his friend.

_Oh my effing god…_

"This is my daughter, Arya," Catelyn said, widening her eyes at Arya to remind her about her manners. "And this, Arya, is Jon's friend Gendry Waters. They share the same classes in uni and they're roomies too, how delightful is that?"

Arya tried to be discreet about rolling her eyes at her mother, but Gendry saw it all the same and he gave a little chuckle. Arya felt her face heat up from embarrassment, but she turned to Jon instead and asked him about giving her a ride on his new motorcycle.

"Uh-uh, young lady," Catelyn said, wagging a finger in front of her face. It annoyed Arya so much that she resisted the urge to smack it away. "History lessons first, before you do anything recreational. Gendry might be able to teach you a little about manners, too, while he's here."

Arya didn't know who blushed deeper-if it was her or Gendry. She hated her mother so much at that moment and all Arya wanted to do was get started with the lessons so they could get things done faster.

"She's a nice kid," Jon said as soon as their mother was out of the room. "She's just the more outspoken one out of my two sisters."

"I'm not a kid!" Arya cried out, jabbing her elbow to Jon's side. Gendry laughed when Jon bent forward from the pain, and Arya froze when she heard the sound.

_Oh, lordy. He laughs…beautifully._

If there even was such a thing. Arya mentally shook her head and motioned for Jon to leave the room. "Go on, then. Leave me and History to wallow in our miseries."

Jon gave Gendry a little fist bump before he strode towards the door. "Careful with this one, Gen. She's a firecracker."

Gendry's eyes twinkled as he studied Arya in her annoyed state. "Oh I can see that."

* * *

"What are the different type of smiths back in the middle ages?"

"Goldsmith, silversmith and blacksmith."

"What was the main task of a blacksmith?"

Arya looked up at the ceiling, as if the answers were stuck up there. "They work in a forge to make utensils, horeshoes, armors and weapons."

Gendry nodded. "Name five things that blacksmiths made."

Arya started ticking items off her fingers. "Weapons, jewelry, armors, shields, tools, portcullis."

Gendry grinned. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

They had been going through her lessons for two weeks now. The awkward stage has already passed, and Arya found herself looking forward to these lessons with Gendry.

"Do you love History so much or is it just one of the many nerdy things you love?" Arya asked out of the blue, startling Gendry a little with the change of subject.

He rubbed the back of his neck before answering, as if it were something written on a History exam or something. "I like everything, but this just tops my list. I understand how you feel about numbers, because me and numbers just don't get along."

Arya laughed. "Really? I thought I was the only person hating on numbers!"

"Us and the rest of the free world," he said with a chuckle.

_Stop chuckling and laughing and…goddamnit!_

"Except for my perfect sister, who seems to have a romantic relationship with Math," Arya said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

Gendry's face turned serious. "So…is Sansa seeing someone right now?"

Arya's face fell, but she quickly hid her disappointment behind her _World History_ book and said, "Nope. Not that I know of," she said before shuffling through the pages. "So…Middle Ages?"

Gendry studied her for a while as she tried to bury her nose into the book. Her mood seemed to shift, making Gendry wonder if he said anything to make her angry. "Name five tools used by blacksmiths."

* * *

"You didn't have to do this," Arya asked, giving him a surprised look as soon as they were seated in the booth.

Gendry picked her up from school that day, with a promise of a reward for passing her History exam. Arya felt her heart beat thrice as loud and thrice as fast that it normally did when she got his text. She almost threw up from excitement when she saw his car pull up the school parking lot, and it was even worse when she got into the seat beside him.

"Oh, but I wanted to," Gendry said with a lopsided grin on his face. "You passed the exam and we're here to celebrate."

Arya gave him a shy smile. _Damn him and all these feelings he's making her…feel._ "I feel like it should be me treating you out because, you know, I made it because of you."

"Nah. I wasn't the one who answered the exam and it wasn't my name on that paper," Gendry said, scanning through the menu for something to order. "You feel like having pizza?"

"I just had pizza for lunch," Arya said, looking over at the menu. "Maybe I'll take a burger and fries."

"And milkshake?" Gendry asked, his mouth turning into a smirk.

"Only if you're getting one," she replied.

Thirty minutes later and well into the meal, they were talking about random stuff like university life and what to expect, how Gendry copes with sharing the same room as Jon and classic horror movies.

"Have you had a boyfriend?" Gendry suddenly asks, making Arya choke on her milkshake.

"Um…no."

"Why are you embarrassed?"

"Well, I don't feel like having weird conversations about my non-existent love life and be laughed at, okay."

"I'm not laughing."

Arya snorted. "Maybe not right now. I wonder what you tell your friends when you're done tutoring me for the day. _This Stark kid's so stupid at History! Jon's little sister at everything!_"

Gendry's eyes flashed with anger. "Why do you keep saying that? Why do you keep bringing yourself down?"

"Because that's all I ever am to everyone! I'm Arya Stark, the youngest daughter of Eddard and Catelyn and the most disappointing of the two daughters! I'm failing my History and Math classes because the only thing I'm good at is fencing and dancing and disappointing my parents and getting into trouble! That's what I'm good at! Fuck it! What can I say? I'm inadequate!"

"You're not, Arya! Stop saying that!"

"Oh, but you will! Sansa said I just push people away because I'm hopeless and rude and ill-mannered and I don't have anyone to love and who'd love me back because I'm just that…just Arya…"

Gendry stared at her as tears started to fall down her pretty little face. He wanted to say, _"If you feel you're just Arya...let's be that together because I'm just Gendry." _But he didn't He glanced around the diner and saw that they had attracted a little audience with their sudden outburst. Signaling to the waitress for the bill, he grabbed a couple of tissues from the holder and handed it over to Arya.

"Let's get out of here," he said, taking Arya's small, trembling hand in his and walked out of the diner.

* * *

"I'm sorry for the outburst," Arya said, her voice soft and still a little tremulous.

They were in Gendry's car, just sitting there at the parking lot and watched people go by. It was already dark out, but Gendry didn't feel like sending Arya home until she had calmed down.

"It's okay, Arya. I was a little surprised to find all that emotion burst out of someone as small as you, but I kind of expected it already."

Arya turned in her seat so she could look at him amidst the growing darkness outside. She could see his eyes shining with emotion and the crease between his brows. "What do you mean you were kind of expecting it?"

Gendry leaned back on his seat and heaved a deep sigh. "During those weeks we've spent together, you kept saying how your family's disappointed in you and how you could never be like perfect Sansa, and how you're _just Arya_."

"Did I bore you?"

"No. I was worried about you."

"Why?"

"Why?" Gendry asked, shifting in his seat so he could look at her better. "You're asking me why, Arya? You're worried about how everyone's disappointed in you and how you're not as perfect as your sister, but the truth is, I think your family doesn't even see who the real Arya is. You've got your head wrapped up in all your frustration when the only thing I could see when I look at you is what a badass chick you really are."

"What?" Arya's voice grew weak.

Gendry rolled his eyes, and Arya would have laughed at the sight. "You worry about a lot of things when the only thing you should worry about is how you're going to feel when I finally kiss you."

Arya almost swallowed her tongue. "Why would you want to kiss me? You're stupid! No one wants to kiss me…"

"I do."

And Arya felt his hand on her nape and pull her in for a kiss. Her eyes were wide open with shock, and she sat there frozen as she stared at him in close range. Gendry's eyes were closed, and she felt the gentleness of his lips as they tried to coax some life into her. When she finally realized that his lips felt warm and soft and inviting, she closed her eyes and gave herself up more into the kiss.

Gendry groaned when he felt her finally react to the kiss. He pulled her in closer, his right hand threading into her long, silky strands while his left moved to her hip. He felt her emit a small, soft purr deep in her throat and he growled low and deep in response. Her mouth was moving along with his now, and when he felt she would recoil no longer, he ran his tongue over her bottom lip and tried to sneak past her lips.

"Arya…" he whispered before tilting his head to the other side and deepened the kiss further. She did the same, which made Gendry all the more excited.

Excited. _Fuck! _Gendry knew he should put an end to this before he starts doing _exciting_ things to Jon's sister. He needed to even if he didn't want to.

"Arya," he said, a little louder this time, just to make Arya jolt out of her temporary trance. It was the hardest thing Gendry had done in a while, probably harder than when he had to hand over a hundred bucks to Jon when he lost to a bet.

When Arya's eyes were out of their glassy, aroused state and her breathing was somehow back to normal, Gendry started the engine again and sat there for a while until he felt his heartbeat return to normal.

"Did I disappoint you with that kiss too?" Arya said, feeling a little hurt.

Gendry reached over to rub his thumb over her soft, rosy cheek. "You're the stupid one if you think I was even a wee bit disappointed."

Arya's lips turned up at the corners. "So, Gendry Waters liked the kiss?"

"Gendry Waters liked it very much."

"And did he like that he was Arya Stark's first kiss?"

Gendry laughed at the absurdity of talking in third person, but he leaned in again but only for a quick kiss this time. "Gendry Waters is tickled to no end that he is Arya Stark's first kiss."

Arya laughed this time, and Gendry couldn't help but grin at this rare carefree moment of hers.

"But Gendry wants to know," he said again, entwining his hand with hers as they rested on the warmth of her thigh. "If Arya wants to know what a second kiss would feel like."

Arya chuckled softly; turning her head around to look out the window. Without looking at him, she replied, "Tell Gendry Waters that Arya Stark wants a second and a third and a fourth…"


End file.
